Created by Michael Waldron, Heels is set to premiere on Starz this coming Sunday. The eight-episode drama centers around the fictional town of Duffy, Georgia, and its professional wrestling promotion, the Duffy Wrestling League. Throughout the season various aspects of the pro wrestling business are addressed, including the struggles of stars past their prime, seasoned journeymen still attempting to capture the adulation of the crowd and the challenges running a promotion can have on a family.
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Waldron recently spoke with ComicBook about creating the show and what inspirations he drew from in forming the characters, particularly Jake and Ace Spade — played by Stephen Amell and Alexander Ludwig.
“I think it was more drawing inspiration from, obviously there’s a long history in wrestling of wrestling families,” Waldron said. “The Hart’s, the Von Erich’s. And so wrestling is, traditionally, very much a family business. And so that was where the idea of these two brothers came from. Not necessarily any particular fraternal relationship in the history of wrestling.”
Amell and Ludwig also spoke with ComicBook about wrestlers they looked to in helping craft their characters once they’re in the ring.
“We both drew from wrestlers that we knew, just in terms of a reservoir of information that we could use,” Ludwig said, before joking about how his “legal answer” was that any resemblance his character had to other wrestlers was purely coincidental.
“For me, just the utter disdain that heels like Triple H had, when he had his big heel run,” Amell said. “And then when it came to promos and interacting with the crowd, lot of Ric Flair.”
The pair also talked about the insights they took from working with wrestlers in the past. Amell famously wrestled in WWE and Ring of Honor against and alongside Cody Rhodes before bringing him on as a villain in Arrow, while Ludwig worked alongside Adam Copeland (Edge) on Vikings.
“Well, working with Cody, I got to see the way that it’s not just how you perform in the ring; it’s how you carry yourself backstage and the example that you try to set for the other guys,” Amell said. “A lot of the Jack Spade that you see when he gets behind the curtain, to me, was inspired by what I’ve seen Cody do up close and personal.”
“Actually really serendipitous that our relationships off-screen, in a weird way, really resembled the characters we would be playing on-screen,” Ludwig added. “Steven’s relationship with Cody, mine with Adam. We would actually stop takes so that Steven could call Cody, or I would call Adam for things. As simple as, ‘Hey Adam, do I have to shave my armpits?’ to the more specific things, you know? And they were immensely helpful. I felt like we were able, through our relationships, to bring even more knowledge than we already had, which only benefited the show.”
